This is the history of my father, Arthur. His grandchildren by Azza never knew him because he died before I went to Baghdad (1955). Since this will be a permanent record it also will be available to Arthur's seven grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. At this time he even has two great-great-great-grandchildren.
Lila Levinson, my daughter by my first wife Helen and I, are planning to go to Ireland to try to locate some information on the origin of her children's other grandfather James Joseph Tierney. He was a simple, but good man. He was quiet and talked very little, so none of us knew him well.
It seems appropriate to make an effort to record Arthur's history, since he was a model to me and hero to the many who knew him. Now, 109 years after the birth of Arthur, this looks like the last chance to set the record of his life down on paper. His brothers and sisters are all gone now. Only I, his son, and a few nephews and nieces are left, and we are not in touch with one another. I am almost 72 and Arthur's sister's son Gene is 76, so there isn't much time left to get this recorded. I will prepare this account of his life and then send it to Cousin Gene for revision and correction.
Arthur Henry Guertin was born in Ottawa, province of Quebec in Canada in 1884. His middle name was after his father, Henri William Guertin, born 1844 Montreal, Quebec. His mother, born in 1866 in Iberville, Quebec as Rosalie Addie Provost, went by "Rose". Rose was reputedly about 1/4 Algonquin Indian. I learned that Rose was descended from the immigrant Frenchman , who married the first Christianized Indian. That inspired me to write a fictionalized reconstruction of what life might have been like in the frontier days. You will find it for sale by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and booksellers around the world. Martin Provost, Survivor. For sale by Amazon, Martin Provost, Survivor! 2015, Amazon
Henri was 22 years older than Rose. After Arthur was born, they went from Ottawa to the USA to live in Detroit where all of their children lived at some time in their lives. Henri seems to have been a jack-of-all- trades. I recall having heard that he worked for Barnum's circus, did magic shows- an interest several of his sons took up, including Arthur. He probably had additional experiences in the theater.
Cousin Gene says that he recalls hearing that Henri once joined Jack London on a voyage to the South Pacific as ship's cook. He must have been an interesting man, but a bit of a vagabond. Rose survived him by many years. The Guertin forefather probably came to Canada from France in the middle of the 17th century. Two things make me think that Arthur's antecedents were Huguenots (Protestants) escaping the persecution in France, that took place during that century.
A friend of mine said that he found that the Guertins were listed as having been residents of Ireland. Ireland was a nearby refuge for French emigres. The other thing is my recollection of a story about the "Protestant" Guertin family. A husband in the family, probably a generation older than Arthur, lived as a Protestant, but his wife buried him as a Catholic, with great glee. If I were to look in France for the family origin, I would check out the residents of the city of Tours, where many of the Huguenots came from. Gene thinks the family came from Le Brie, France. Later research for my book shows that our forefather Martin Provost came from a district of Paris.
Arthur must have been an alert and inquisitive child. His brother Oscar tells how, when they were children, Arthur tossed a bottle up in the air and watched it come down. He was so intent that he forgot to move out of the way and it broke one of his front teeth. Arthur started life speaking French at home. Only when he entered school did he develop his English. Viable siblings, from oldest to youngest, were as follows.
Sister Alba lived in Denver with Joseph Brisson, a French Canadian sign-painter from Detroit, who had his own sign company and later a trucking business. Children: Alan, Claire Luke, Jane Doe. The last of these may have been Alba's child from an earlier marriage. Claire and Alan live in Denver. Claire married a Mexican, Tomas Luke. The whereabouts of Jane Doe are unknown.
Brother Oscar lived in Detroit with his wife Emma. He worked for Dodge. Children: Irma Grey, Lois Urbance. Irma lives with her husband in Altoona, Michigan. Lois also lived in Altoona and I believe Erma said that Lois died recently. Oscar and Emma were both very common down to earth people. They ate well because Emma was a good cook. She was born somewhere in Central Europe. Oscar was gruff but very good-hearted. He had an open relationship with his daughters. Oscar loved to go to the professional wrestling matches every week; he learned to ignore that much of it was faked.
Brother Louis lived in Detroit. He worked as a sign painter in his early years. Louis was very likeable. He was a talented painter and musician. Yet he was unpretentious and seemed happy to live the simple life of a caretaker at a simple lake resort for much of his life. He died quite young but not before marrying a second time. Child: Marian (?).
The unmarried brother Victor lived in Detroit. He was artistic, and performed as a ventriloquist, and was sort of a vagabond, but very likeable. He was a drinker and, when he was at one of the low points in his life, he hanged himself from a tree while still quite young.
Sister Florence Lived in Detroit where she worked irregularly as a hairdresser. She was an accomplished musician like all of her siblings. She married three or four times. She bore one son Gene Tischauer (Eugene). Flo never liked to work at home or outside. She was often in bed complaining of heart trouble and trying to manipulate her family throughout most of her adult life. She and her younger sister, Lil, were pals. They used to like to dress as "flappers" (Very modern and unacceptable by the standards of their time). Flo liked to be taken out on the town at night. For a while Flo played the piano accompaniment at a silent-movie theater. She died in her 90's. Her son Gene married a Mexican and left Detroit to live in Guadalajara, Mexico. Twelve years later, after his wife died, he and their son Victor returned to live in Austin, Texas.
Arthur's sister Lily lived in London, Ontario and Detroit with husband Ray Sterling. While very young, she played children's parts in on the stage, both as boys and as girls. As an adult, she worked her way up to an important position as private secretary to a big executive in General Motors. She was the money earner. Her husband Ray was very nice but never amounted to much he was dapper, sort of the gigolo type. He was salesman and owner of several men's shops. They moved many times in later years. Lil liked to " put on airs." She usually had at least one servant and gave semi formal dinner parties. Her brother Oscar, delighted in being a common man, and he looked the part. He used to make fun of his sister's pretensions. He would go to the kitchen to get his own water instead of having her servant fill his glass at the formal dinner table. She died in her 90's.
Arthur Married Lila Collins Howland and had one son, Wilson Howland Guertin. I obtained a B.S. in Chemistry at Rutgers and a Ph.D. summa cum laude in Clinical Psychology at Michigan State in 1951. With 10 years of experience as a Clinical Psychologist, I began teaching Psychology and Education in Baghdad, Cairo, and finally at the University of Florida. I retired in Gainesville Florida with Professor Emeritus status.
There isn't much to say about Arthur's schooling because he was a self-made man. He quit high school to earn a living. This is strange because he was an eager student all the rest of his life. Family finances must have forced him to quit school and earn some money. It is not clear whether all of Arthur's education was in Canada, but it probably was not. He worked at a number of jobs during the twenty or so years after he left school until he married. He was fascinated by the newspaper industry and worked at typesetting and later as a reporter. He never completely lost these interests as shown by his life long subscription to the trade journal "Printer's Ink," and his friendly association with newspaper editors in whichever city he found himself.
Arthur was 33 when he married Lila Collins Howland of Bridgeport Connecticut on March 9, 1917. The marriage was held in Detroit with Arthur's family in attendance. His mother Rose and sister Lil signed as witnesses. Probably his father was dead by that time. Lila was born Eliza but must have been known as Lila since very young. She was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts around 1884. Lila was a schoolteacher from a family of New Bedford whalers. Arthur and Lila were about the same age.
Five years earlier, when they were 28, they both took a voyage from New York to Glasgow. They apparently met in tourist class on the S.S. Cameronia in June of 1912. With a bilingual background, Arthur found people of other cultures interesting and he exerted considerable effort to be able to interact with, and enjoy them. Arthur could converse very well in both French and German. He no doubt also knew some Italian. Why would Arthur marry at about the age of 33 when he seemed to be happy and successfully at meeting his needs in his work? Perhaps it was love or perhaps out of a sense of duty to marry and have at least a token family. But he married a woman getting rather old for childbearing. They were married about six years before she conceived me (probably an accident?). She was 40 when I was born.
As you will see, Arthur was too busy with his many interests to stay home and spend much time with his family. Arthur and his brother Louis, and probably others in the family, were involved in the sign business. Whose business it was is unknown. Arthur, like Louis, probably did sign painting. Arthur was a very likeable man and very capable. Now it was time for him to get into the career of executive management of the sign construction and outdoor advertising business. Arthur accepted a management position in New Haven, Connecticut. A year or so later his employer offered him a better position in Bridgeport, Connecticut. That was when I showed up on the scene.
An article in the Bridgeport Telegram February 22, 1921 extols Arthur's many virtues. So he must have been in Bridgeport for at least two years to be so well-recognized. The newspaper article shows us that his many interests were already well formed at this time, and these same interests were maintained throughout his life, with the addition of a few more. A newspaper article about Arthur at the age of 38 is so informative that it is worth quoting in its entirety.
Bridgeport Telegram February 22, 1921 PEN PICTURES OF PROMINENT BRIDGEPORTERS (Shows a great caricature of Arthur dressed in coat and hat standing on a hanging stage, slapping paint on a sign.) Bill Steinke wrote:
"You got to hand it to the sort of a man who comes into a town, unheralded, makes himself right to home and enters into the spirit of the community and in due course of time becomes generally well-known and liked because he is a square fellow, means what he says and says what he means. That's just the kind of a man the manager of the Bridgeport Outdoor Advertising company is. His name is Arthur H. Guertin. He is just about the snappiest proposition to enter our midst in some time.
He came here from Detroit two years ago and today is one of the leading scout masters in Bridgeport. He likes scout work because he believes it is the foundation to real Americanism. He is one of the hardest working members of the Chamber of Commerce; Secretary of the Bridgeport Advertising Club and goodness, let me think, he belongs to so many things oh yes, great member of the Rotary Club; Superintendent of the Universalist Sunday School and is affiliated with the Y.M.C.A. The reason for his happy disposition is work. He gets untold joy out of keeping busy. Other affiliations depicted in the cartoon but not mentioned in the text are, Fellow Craft Club, Ad Club, and Director of the Bridgeport Symphony Society."
The article identifies the Bridgeport Outdoor Advertising Co. as a subsidiary of the United Advertising Corp., for whom Arthur worked until his retirement. It is hard to believe that such an honest and gentle man could be such a successful manager. Arthur worked for the United Advertising Corp. which was based in Newark, New Jersey. He was sent out to various subsidiaries where his skills were needed. He only remained in Bridgeport for about four years before being transferred to Dallas, Texas. He thought Dallas was a great city and he generally liked the South. He thought Atlanta was the best of all American cities. After only two years or so in Dallas, he was transferred to the home office in Newark. He worked in Newark about four years before being sent to Paterson, New Jersey to manage the Paterson Sign Co. and the Federal Advertising Corp. Both companies were subsidiaries of the United Outdoor Advertising Corp and operated in the same location under Arthur's direction. Once Arthur got settled in Paterson he was able to build a community and business life that would continue the rest of his life. He was appointed Vice President of the United Advertising Corporation.
Arthur first lived with his family in the suburbs called Chatham and Totowa but then moved to North Haledon where they stayed for the rest of his life. Their house was in the country on more than an acre of ground. Arthur loved his roses and he looked after the grapevines and other decorative plantings on weekends. His prize plant was the rare "Black" rose.
Arthur never had close personal friends. Probably the closest was a neighbor, who was 10 years younger and always addressed him as Mr. Guertin, although they had never had any business connection and Arthur called him by his first name. There was little time to spend with friends since Arthur was busy exploring an exciting world, serving his community and doing a super job at running his business. Arthur's wife never worked after she married but she was active in various clubs in North Haledon. Arthur brought home a good salary throughout his marriage until the last two years of his life.
He lacked for nothing but was not ostentatious in his living style. The signs of economic depression in 1929, that were everywhere, never were in evidence in Arthur's home. He always had a shiny, large company car for his use - sort of a black "limousine." Arthur always dressed in the best clothes and seldom was seen in shirtsleeves or without a tie. Neither Lila nor Arthur used personal servants - this would not have been Arthur's style, and Lila's New England frugality could not justify a house servant.
Arthur retired from the advertising business at about age 61. A clever Jewish competitor of his in Paterson had made his life miserable all the time Arthur was running the Federal Advertising Corp. Arthur always took pride in his work, and so he used the best materials. He paid his employees fair wages so as to maintain a quality product. He refused to keep down the production costs like his chief competitor did. Eventually, the parent United Advertising Corp. was forced to sell the businesses to Arthur's competitor. It broke Arthur's heart. He took a job as manager of a large hotel but that did not last long. The hotel was rather far from Arthur's home and he was not the kind of a man who could put up with the sleazy "goings on," inevitable in any hotel operation.
After that, he stayed home and worked as a professional photographer. By this time, photography was his big passion. For years he had been entering photo art exhibitions and winning prizes. However, he seldom if ever sold his creations. He lacked an urban market or the means for developing one. As a fitting end, he died of a heart attack in his darkroom.
The article in the Bridgeport Telegram told us of Arthur's interests at midlife. He pursued former interests and added new ones while he lived in New Jersey until his death. Arthur was always good with his hands as well as his head. He rigged an alarm-clock-operated mechanical device to open the draft on the coal-burning furnace in the morning. He never had to wake up and dress in a cold house. He was able to do his own electrical wiring and he had a woodworking shop in his basement with a woodturning lathe. The woodworking interest lasted a relatively short time.
Arthur put less than his usual effort into other short-term projects. He edited and published a handbook on layout tricks for sign painters, written by his brother Lou. He ran a small weekend business of manufacturing a dry, industrial hand cleaner.
Arthur was still a boy when the wonders of electricity and magnetism were being introduced to the public. He followed the experiments and discoveries of Tesla, Edison, and Ford. When radio was still in its infancy Arthur had to have his own devices to explore with-- he was one of the very first to assemble a crude and awkward wet cell battery operated radio. He was very excited over it. He used to love to see lecture exhibits of magnetism and electricity and got to know the performers.
He took me to see one of their labs, once. He also took me to see Edison's lab in Menlo Park. He would help promote these exhibitions in the various clubs where he was a member. Arthur's lifelong interest in pictorial art, led him to paint landscape and country scenes in oil. He dabbled a bit with clay modeling, as well.
Later he went on to make his pictures photographically. He was developing his own complicated three color film pictures when other people had never even seen a colored photograph. As well as being a member of the Paterson Camera Club, he served in later years as an instructor there. Color always fascinated him, probably even in childhood, before he began painting. He became a nationally recognized specialist on color theory and associated phenomena. He developed his own demonstration materials consisting of color discs that were motor-driven to blend the component colors to show the composite color that resulted. He was an occasional lecturer to various groups around the country.
Arthur loved music. He had a prize violin that once belonged to the world famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull (1810 1880). Arthur willed it to his sister Alba's son Alan Brisson, who was a professional musician. Arthur used to practice at home and would play with the Paterson concert orchestra once a week- practicing for their public presentations. Arthur usually played third position on the violin, which is to say, the position of the hand is placed higher up on the neck of the violin, not in the first position that the novice learns to use. He particularly loved opera. He could hum all the arias and he would listen to opera on the radio on weekends.
Arthur always loved children and he devoted himself to scouting throughout his life. When living in Newark he became the Executive Secretary for the Newark Council - a large population area with a big responsibility. At one time he was a member of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was less active in scouting after moving to North Haledon, N.J. but he was a Commissioner of the local Boy Scout Council. He served as Honorary Chairman of Junior Achievement in Paterson one year. It was never enough! He served on the Executive Committee for the YMCA in Paterson, as well. He had this compulsion (or love) to serve his community.
Although Arthur had no formal education in law, he held the position of local judge (Recorder) of North Haledon for more than 10 years. He took the time to learn the law on the job and from his library. It must have been hard on this man to sit in judgement of others because, although highly moral himself, it was never his custom to criticize others or to go about moralizing. Still, he made a fine, honest judge, who did what had to be done for the community and he took pride in his job. During World War II he designed an inside and an outside Honor Roll for the war dead from North Haledon. Most people addressed him as "Judge" both in and out of court. Arthur was a club joiner - but he was an active worker on committees in those clubs. He was a 32nd degree Mason, Past President of the Paterson Chamber of Commerce, President Elect of The Paterson Rotary Club, a member of the New York Camera Club, a member of the Hamilton Club of Paterson, and probably other organizations and clubs from time to time. He was a Director of the Paterson Federal and Savings and Loan Bank.
He belonged to the Unitarian, Methodist and Presbyterian congregations at various times. He was more moral than religious and preferred to teach in Sunday school rather than listen to the Sunday sermons.
Arthur was a gourmet, who especially loved French dishes but he liked German as well. He was especially fond of cheeses - the stinkier the better. He greatly enjoyed and appreciated various types of beers and his business friends and associates would often give him sampler bottles of imported beer for Christmas. However, Arthur always practiced moderation in all things. I remember seeing him "high" only one time, but I never heard of him becoming intoxicated.
Arthur was portly, about five feet eight and 200 pounds. He liked seafood and ethnic foods. While not a smoking fiend, he did enjoy cigars daily. Breakfasts were as greasy as possible and his diet probably contributed strongly to his early death at the age of 63 from a simultaneous heart failure and stroke. As an adult he was rarely sick. His end came one night when he was working alone in the darkroom in his basement. Lila found him the next morning slumped over his shelves, dead. He was cremated and his remains are buried in a grave alongside his wife in Harwichport, Massachusetts.
It is tempting to summarize by eulogizing my father in flattering general terms. However, it is now clear to you that here was a man, whose service and life speak for themselves. There is no need to embellish - to create what was not. Nor were there vices to hide that should remain hidden. As you see, he was a truly great man. His only fault was being so busy that he had little time for family. Perhaps his home life was not that gratifying and so he may have found that escape was more pleasant and more satisfying. In any case, the family's loss was the community's gain.